Sale - Zeno Agency Ltd.

Kobo eBook Sale: Lavie Tidhar & Aliette de Bodard!

Posted on Friday, September 18th, 2020

Just a quick note to let everyone know that two of our clients have novellas included in Kobo’s current sale! Here are the details…

Lavie Tidhar‘s acclaimed MARTIAN SANDS is only $3.99 (US and Canada)…

1941: an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbour, a man from the future materialises in President Roosevelt’s office. His offer of military aid may cut the War and its pending atrocities short, and alter the course of the future…

The future: welcome to Mars, where the lives of three ordinary people become entwined in one dingy smokesbar the moment an assassin opens fire.

The target: the mysterious Bill Glimmung. But is Glimmung even real? The truth might just be found in the remote FDR Mountains, an empty place, apparently of no significance, but where digital intelligences may be about to bring to fruition a long-held dream of the stars…

Mixing mystery and science fiction, the Holocaust and the Mars of both Edgar Rice Burroughs and Philip K. Dick, Martian Sands is a story of both the past and future, of hope, and love, and of finding meaning—no matter where—or when—you are.

Here’s just a sample of reviews this great novella has received…

‘Feels more like early Kurt Vonnegut… both writers seem to channel the same prankster glee that covers deep despair. MARTIAN SANDS crackles with energy and life while poking at some big questions about the nature of reality.’ — Locus

‘A totally mad and very enjoyable book. The closest comparison I can think of is Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 – Tidhar does the same thing of taking a overwhelmingly serious subject (in this case the Holocaust; in Slaughterhouse 5, the bombing of Dresden) and applying to it a surreal and farcical lens – using humour to highlight tragedy, which is of course what the best theatre does.’ — E.J. Swift, author of OSIRIS

‘… the work of a serious writer who writes entertainingly, who can be funny, political, speculative, provocative and charming, all at the same time. I’m not going to pretend I understood everything that was going on in MARTIAN SANDS, especially towards the end… but I would love to read a sequel that was even weirder. Tidhar writes equally well in several genres; CLOUD PERMUTATIONS and GOREL & THE POT-BELLIED GOD were, I thought, both excellent, but so dissimilar that one would be hard-pressed without title pages to identify them as the product of a single author. It seemed to me when reading MARTIAN SANDS that for Tidhar “classic science fiction” in the style of Silverberg, Brunner and Dick’s novels of the sixties is just another genre to which he can turn his hand as ably as he does all the others. In some ways that’s almost galling (“Here’s a Hugo winner I made earlier!”), but I hope he does it again.’ — Theaker’s Quarterly

Aliette de Bodard‘s IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is only $2.99 (US)/$3.99 (Canada)…

In a ruined, devastated world, where the earth is poisoned and beings of nightmares roam the land…

A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village’s debts and struggling to survive in a spirit world.

A dragon, among the last of her kind, cold and aloof but desperately trying to make a difference.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement.

But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies—and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

Here’s what others have said about IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE…

‘This intriguing, Sapphic, Vietnamese take on Beauty and the Beast is recommended for fans of De Bodard’s previous works or readers who enjoy diverse, lushly described fantasy.’ — Library Journal

‘De Bodard has taken the outline of a classic fable and turned it into a hall of mirrors as ravishing as it is disturbing.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

‘I loved the worldbuilding throughout this story… a very enjoyable and often even soothing book, despite some fearful moments and emotional distress for the characters… I’ll follow [de Bodard] to whatever subgenre she wants to explore next.’ — Skiffy & Fanty

‘I always love a good re-imagining of my favourite fairy tale, and this one is exceptional—dark, ethereal, and enchanting.’ — Samantha Shannon

‘As a reframing of a classic fairy tale, IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is subversive and bold; as a romance, it is tentative, touching, and sweet.’ — Barnes & Noble

Lavie’s latest novel, BY FORCE ALONE is out now, published by Head of Zeus in the UK and Tor Books in North America.

Aliette’s latest book is SEVEN OF INFINITIES, the latest Xuya novella, published by Subterranean Press at the end of October.

Aliette de Bodard’s TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is on sale in the UK!

Posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2019

Aliette de Bodard‘s critically-acclaimed novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is included in Amazon UK’s Kindle Spring Sale! Only 99p in until April 23rd, it is published via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the synopsis…

Once, the mindship known as The Shadow’s Child was a military transport, carrying troops and crew for a war that tore the Empire apart. Until an ambush killed her crew and left her wounded and broken. Now the war is over, and The Shadow’s Child, surviving against all odds, has run away. Discharged and struggling to make a living, she has no plans to go back into space. Until the abrasive and arrogant scholar Long Chau comes to see her. Long Chau wants to retrieve a corpse for her scientific studies: a simple enough, well-paid assignment. But when the corpse they find turns out to have been murdered, the simple assignment becomes a vast and tangled investigation, inexorably leading back to the past – and, once again, to that unbearable void where The Shadow’s Child almost lost both sanity and life…

The novella is published in the US by Subterranean Press.

SHADOWKINGS and THE ELFIN SHIP on sale!

Posted on Friday, November 4th, 2016

James P. Blaylock‘s and Michael Cobley‘s debut novels are on sale at the moment, discounted through Kobo! Both books are published through the JABberwocky eBook Program.

Blaylock’s THE ELFIN SHIP is the first in the author’s Balumnia series, sometimes referred to as the Cheeser series. Here’s the synopsis…

James P Blaylock’s 1982 début novel The Elfin Ship has become a classic of whimsical fantasy. With echoes of Kenneth Graham and Mark Twain, it’s a gentle, eccentric and hilarious novel that will delight readers of all ages.

Trading with the elves used to be so simple. Every year Master Cheeser Jonathan Bing would send his very best cheeses downriver to traders who would eventually return with Elfin wonders for the people of Twombly Town.

But no more…

First, the trading post at Willowood Station was mysteriously destroyed. Then a magical elfin airship began making forays overhead: Jonathan knew something was definitely amiss.

So he set off downriver to deliver the cheeses himself, accompanied by the amazing Professor Wurzle, the irrepressible Dooly, and his faithful dog Ahab. It would have been such a pleasant trip, if not for the weeping skeleton, mad goblins, magic coins, an evil dwarf, a cloak of invisibility – and a watch that stopped time.

Of course, the return trip was not so simple.

Blaylock’s other two Balumnia novels, THE DISAPPEARING DWARF and THE STONE GIANT, are also available.

‘A magical world, magically presented… having journeyed there, you will not wish to leave, nor ever to forget.’ — Philip K. Dick

Jim’s latest novel is BENEATH LONDON, the fourth book in his fan-favourite Langdon St. Ives steampunk series, published by Titan Books.

SHADOWKINGS is the first novel in Michael Cobley’s series of the same name. Here’s the synopsis…

For one thousand bright and fortunate years the Khatrimantine Empire had guaranteed peace and benevolence. Then came the vast hordes of the Mogaun, driven by an evil deity, the Lord of Twilight, corrupter and devourer.

The unprepared Khatrimantine armies could not stand against the brutal might of the invaders, not even with the help of the Empire’s spirit/magical guardians. Yet at the very pinnacle of his triumph, the Lord of Twilight made a fatal mistake, shattering his essence into five parts: five lost souls destined to become the Shadowkings.

Now, sixteen years after the invasion, Mogaun warlords and petty despots squabble amid the ruins. Yet ancient powers are stirring and the Empire’s last valiant defenders are gathering their strength, hoping that one decisive strike can reverse their long, bleak decline. But the forces of Night know well the dance of might, and match them step for step.

The other two novels in the series, SHADOWGOD and SHADOWMASQUE, are also available.

‘There is plenty here to keep any fans of high fantasy happy. The familiar elements are here, but don’t worry about them feeling borrowed or contrived. Cobley has presented his own fantasy world and characters, well rounded, fully explored and absorbing.’ — Eternal Night

‘… unconventional high fantasy trilogy… [Cobley] has taken traditional sword and sorcery to some new and perhaps uncomfortable places… an unusually dark and claustrophobic piece of work…’ — Infinity Plus

Michael’s latest novel is ANCESTRAL MACHINES, a fourth (stand-alone) novel set in his Humanity’s Fire universe. It is published by Orbit Books.